You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public
Information Act, chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned
ID# 131259.

The Department of Public Safety (the "department") received a request for an offense report.
You assert that sections 552.108 and 552.103 of the Government Code except from
disclosure the requested information. We have considered the exceptions you claim and
reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.301(a) of the Government Code provides in part that:

A governmental body that receives a written request for information
that it wishes to withhold from public disclosure and that it considers
to be within one of the [act's] exceptions . . . must ask for a decision
from the attorney general about whether the information is within that
exception if there has not been a previous determination about
whether the information falls within one of the exceptions. The
governmental body must ask for the attorney general's decision and
state the exceptions that apply within a reasonable time but not later
than the 10th business day after the date of receiving the request.

The department received the request on October 26, 1999, and therefore, had until
November 9 to ask this office for a decision. Because the request for a decision was faxed
to this office on November 10, you failed to request a decision within the ten business day
period mandated by section 552.301(a). Because the request for a decision was not timely
received, the requested information is presumed to be public information. Gov't Code
§ 552.302; see Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379 (Tex. App.--Austin 1990, no
writ).

In order to overcome the presumption that the requested information is public information,
a governmental body must provide compelling reasons why the information should not be
disclosed. Hancock, 797 S.W.2d at 381; see Open Records Decision No. 630 (1994). You
have not raised any specific compelling reasons to overcome the presumption that the
information is public. Thus, we conclude that the information must be released to the
requestor.

However, you must withhold any information that is confidential by law. Section 552.101
excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional,
statutory, or by judicial decision." This section encompasses information protected by statute.
The offense report contains the driver's license number and social security number of the arrested
person. Section 552.130(a) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating
to a driver's license and motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state.
Further, social security numbers may be excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 in
conjunction with the 1990 amendments to the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §
405(c)(2)(C)(viii)(I). See Open Records Decision No. 622 (1994). These amendments make
confidential social security numbers and related records that are obtained and maintained by a
state agency or political subdivision of the state pursuant to any provision of law enacted on or
after October 1, 1990. See id.

However, section 552.023 of the Government Code grants a special right of access to a person
or a person's authorized representative to records that contain information relating to the person
that are protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy
interests. Because both provisions protect a person's privacy interest, the department must release
to the person or the person's authorized representative the person's social security number and
driver's license number. In this request, a law firm requested a copy of the offense report on
behalf of their client who was arrested and whose social security number and driver's license
number appear in the requested offense report. Thus, the requestor has a special right of access
to this information and the department may not withhold this information and must release the
entire report to the requestor.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the facts
as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination
regarding any other records or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the
governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited from
asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the
governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by filing
suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit
of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days.Id. §
552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the governmental
body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general have the right to
file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id. § 552.321(a).

If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested information,
the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the statute, the attorney
general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the governmental body will do one
of the following three things: 1) release the public records; 2) notify the requestor of the exact
day, time, and place that copies of the records will be provided or that the records can be
inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the governmental body's intent to challenge this letter
ruling in court. If the governmental body fails to do one of these three things within 10 calendar
days of this ruling, then the requestor should report that failure to the attorney general's Open
Government Hotline, toll free, at 877/673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the
district or county attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e).

If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the requested
information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental body. Id. §
552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408, 411 (Tex.
App.-Austin 1992, no writ).

If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments about this
ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for contacting us, the
attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days of the date of this
ruling.